CENTURION, May 21: In the end, the champions’ tag was too much to handle for Rajasthan Royals while Kings XI paid the price for taking a target of 117 too easy. Shane Warne and Yuvraj Singh failed to lead by example when it mattered most.

It could also have been a case of putting too much on their shoulders. Warne, who steered the team to a dream win last year sprang a surprise when he picked Chennai ahead of Delhi as the tournament favourites. "I don’t think the Daredevils are the best side in the competition. The Super Kings look a better side and they are the favourites to win."

On the day when Warne would have liked the jigsaw to fall in place, everything went wrong. Tactically, Rajasthan were never there in their final game. It was only some poor batting by Kolkata that allowed them a sneak peak. In the end the better team on the day won.

Kolkata’s slide started when they lost to Rajasthan in the super over in the early weeks of IPL-2 and it was poetic justice when Kolkata put them out of the tournament.

"It is hugely disappointing for us. I think we had our chances but we were just not good enough at times. To have to win your last game, 100 on the board was not enough. We gave everything in the field. It is disappointing as defending champions to not make the semifinals."

Rajasthan’s bowling was as good as any other side but their batting fell apart when it mattered. The top order failing regularly did not help especially when it came to chasing stiff targets. Resting an experienced campaigner like Graeme Smith for an important game did not prove a good decision in hindsight.

Also, the team clearly missed the services of Sohail Tanvir and Shane Watson. The replacements did not prove half as good.

Kings XI also took field for their final league fully aware only a win or the rarest of mathematical possibilities could pilot them into the last four. Their failure makes for interesting reading. On paper, Kings XI possessed the best balance and one that allowed them to play five specialist bowlers in all the games.

Like Rajasthan they failed to play the bigger moments well. The pressure inflicted by the three off-spinners proved too much for Yuvraj and his men. Yuvraj was naturally disappointed. "Unfortunately we could not capitalise on that by a strong performance with the bat.

As Warne had pointed out T20 is a demanding format where a solitary mistake can undo all the good work. The two captains proved they were good sports in accepting defeat and thanking the crowd for their support — of which there was plenty for these two teams.